Ingredients For Gingerbread Stuffing

Our answer

Nigella's Gingerbread Stuffing (from NIGELLA CHRISTMAS) is a seasonally spiced stuffing made with ginger cake or spiced bread. The recipe is for quite a large amount and the bacon adds a lot of savoury flavour, as well as some moisture. Unfortunately without the bacon the stuffing will not quite taste the same, so we are slightly concerned that it may not live up to the fond memories that your daughter has of the stuffing.

You could try making the stuffing using crumbled, cooked chestnuts instead of the bacon. You would need to add 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil to the onion mixture, to add some extra moisture, and also season the mixture very well before baking. However we would like to suggest Nigella's Panettone Stuffing Squares as an alternative. This recipe can be made vegetarian by omitting the pancetta and replacing it with 30-50g finely grated Italian-style hard cheese. Parmesan is not vegetarian but you can use this if your daughter eats it. Also add 2-3 tablespoons olive oil to the vegetable mixture while it cooks, to make sure that it does not dry out. For extra festive feasting ideas go to Nigella's Season's Eatings.